Week 57

Hello friends and family.  So, I don't have tons of time today, so I'll have to make this one quick.

In short, this was the best week of my mission number wise.  It was super cool seeing everything come together.  Elder Febbo and I are having tons of fun.

The Garcia family that we have been working with came to church yesterday.  This was the first week that they all came.  It was super cool.  They all have the desire to do what is right, but they all are a little timid to pull the trigger on anything.  They want to be absolutely sure before committing themselves.  I guess that's a positive thing since that will lead to a better conversion in the future.

So the past few weeks, we have been teaching shorter lessons more often.  We are starting to see the positives from this way of doing stuff.  We have 3 different families that are progressing.  We currently have 7 people with baptismal dates--4 from the Garcia family, 2 from the Contreras family, and the son of a less-active member that's coming back.  Everyone in this group is progressing bit by bit.

So one of my best friends here in the mission is currently an assistant.  This past week, we got a chance to be on an exchange together.  Last second, it turned out that he had to go do a 3-hour blood test.  He's been going through a lot of random health stuff on his mission, so it was awesome to be able to talk to him to get some ideas on how to deal with all the little stuff that's been going on with me.  Because of my sugar issues and a schedule that's not so flexible, I end up with sugar headaches almost daily.  I'm still working on balancing all that out.  The solution I see is planning better, but that's been a work in progress for the last 15 months.

This past week, I learned a lot about patience and endurance.  I've been a little impatient with the physical and emotional issues I've been having recently.  While reviewing my notes from the last mission tour, Elder Sitati of the Seventy said something like, "while on your missions, you will need to learn endurance.  This will be necessary for the trials that are ahead of you."  Then this morning, I was thinking about all the things that we are seeing around us that indicates to us that the Second Coming is near.  I was reading in Matt 24, and it says that the trials and tribulations that are on their way will be greater than anything that we have experienced before.  I am now able to look back at what I now see as a minor problem with a bit more appreciation.  It's not over yet, but I do see a benefit in the trial.

For all of you who are going through something, I invite you to take a step back and try to find how your life can be benefited by what you are learning right now in this moment.  Hope you all have a great week!

Elder Christensen

PS-- I TOTALLY forgot to give my HUGE thanks to everyone that sent me stuff for Christmas.  Love you!